HWM June Newsletter

A Message from the Staff

To the Halo Wheelmen and friends,

We the staff write this letter as a thank you to the community and hope it helps ease the leadership transition. Put simply: MC and Monster will transition into the roles currently managed by Duce and Sarge respectively. Both members directly stepped up and approached the staff about their goals for the community, and we would see the beacon of this place continue under active leadership. Monster and MC will provide more concrete details in their own post. We wanted to provide perspective about our retirement and detail our ongoing roles within the community.

Duce joined the site back in 2008. Duce tanked new member engagement and orientation for almost a decade and worked tirelessly in the backend of the site to keep things organized and fair. Without Duce, most of our major public achievements and gatherings would not have happened. We tease him for being grumpy, but you cannot find someone who responds faster to any blip of dismay around here. Duce spearheaded almost all of our efforts at making allies outside of the community. Without Duce, Sarge would not have rallied for Halo 5 and we would not have met many of you.

Sarge joined during the 2009 Bungie Rush. Eager to learn from everyone possible, Sarge eventually became the captain of one of the many crews that ran under our banner in Halo 3, transitioned with many into Invasion in Reach, briefly left Halo during Halo 4, and returned with Evolve and Halo 5. Probably the most public of the admins, Sarge often engages directly with members and manages the ongoing emotional and political dynamics of a gaming community from an empathy-first approach. Now, in 2019, both admins will pass their mantles along.

Despite their commitment to the community and the goal of providing a space that allows anyone to engage in good gaming in Halo and other multiplayer environments, both Duce and Sarge cannot commit the time and energy to the community or games that they once did. Duce’s duties to his family and himself have kept him incredibly busy for almost three years, and Sarge’s personal commitments and changing priorities have kept him from passionately leading the community in multiplayer since the collapse of Warzone. We love you all, and we love this place. We love you enough to know that you need active leadership that is there daily for you.

MC and Monster impressed us with their dedication to the community and the cause, and in our conversations showed the right qualities for our successors. Duce and Sarge will remain active members of the community, and will still be available to play. However, day-to-day organizational matters and concerns will go to MC and Monster. MC will become the new Infrastructure Admin, and Monster will be the new Community Admin (aka “the Captain”). We trust them and look forward to the version of the community we become under their leadership.

Finally, we want to thank all of you for continuing to give this place life. Duce and Sarge have openly discussed the various challenges they’ve faced over the years. In almost every case, the Halo Wheelmen remained one of the bright spots that helped during those periods. We cannot overstate how important the love and kindness we receive daily from you all keeps us grounded. This is not a goodbye. We see this as a baton pass in a relay race against entropy.

Remember that Wheelmen are kind, they contribute, and they grow. So, get in the hog if you want to live.

With Love,

The Staff:
HWM Brickfungus
HWM il Duce
HWM Sarge

Under New Management
Hello Wheelmen! As you heard from the admins, MC and Monster will be taking over Duce and Sarge’s admin roles. It has been a while since we have had a gaming and community update, and we figured it was about time they came back. This is going to be an abbreviated announcement, but inside this abbreviated thread you will see what we plan to bring back in terms of gaming and community news.

That Old, Familiar Feeling
We will bring back the newsletters that Mauro used to give to us monthly with a few changes and updates. Instead of having these newsletters monthly, we will be having them tri-monthly. A few updates will be made to the layout to include major gaming news across multiple titles, as opposed to sticking primarily with Halo. The newsletters will be divided into two primary categories:
Xbox News
Xbox GamePass Additions
Backwards Compatibility Additions
Big News in Gaming across current played games (Halo, SoT, Destiny, Overwatch)

Community
Newest Members and a brief introduction, this can include new community members as well
Upcoming Events that the Wheelmen are hosting
Fun Community Clips

Oh, So That’s How It Is
As we are getting used to the changes and working towards providing the best for the community, feedback is always welcome. If you want to have a game’s news updated and you haven’t seen it listed, let us know and we would be happy to add it to the newsletter. If you have any ideas for offerings or features, fill us in. We are also looking for members within the community who are interested in taking on a little added responsibility and becoming a bigger part in expanding what our community has to offer.

No matter what you choose to do (or not do), we truly thank you for being here and making this the best community around. It wouldn’t be what it is without you. We’ll see you starside.

Locked, eh? This is a neat power. Anyway, we thank the trust that's been placed in us by those who've ascended and the trust that you, the community, are forced to have in us. We promise we'll do our best and to try not to break anything.